After secuting a place on the Crown Commercial Services (CCS) Framework for Defence services, Amey is set to bid for the next round of UK Defence contracts. The firm is one of one of six shortlisted FM providers who will compete for the Future Infrastructure Defence Services (FDIS). The lots
Energy management specialist TEAM has strengthened its software portfolio with the launch of its next generation Sigma Tenant Billing solution. The application enables organisations to accurately and efficiently apportion utility costs between tenants, cost centres or departments delivering transparent accountable billing. The flexible and reliable solution seamlessly integrates with existing
Two water-related contracts, which will see upgrades completed on a North Lincolnshire pumping station and West Sussex pipeline, have been won by Galliford Try. The firm will upgrade Keadby pumping station near Scunthorpe for the Environment Agency under a £20.5 million contract. This project will be carried out in a
UK Power Network has invested £600 million to boost London’s electricity network. The company’s major works have enabled the redevelopment of the Greenwich Peninsula, Nine Elms, Kidbrooke and White City, plus flagship projects such as Crossrail, the Thames Tideway tunnel and HS2. This annual investment is part of the company’s
Energy Assets Utilities (EAU), one of Britain’s leading utility network construction specialists, has appointed David Burbidge as Managing Director for England and Wales to drive growth in residential markets and to build on its success in commercial energy schemes. David brings 30 years’ energy, utilities and asset management expertise to
An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) reveals how energy efficient a property is. If you are a former or current renter, you may have already seen one. They’re often provided by letting agents to assess the potential cost of energy bills — but, they can help any UK resident to carefully
The £80 million National Grid contract that will help restore views of the Dorset landscape has been offered to Morgan Sindall. The 400kV electricity cable project has been awarded as part of the four year Engineer, Procure and Construct (EPC) framework. This is the first scheme delivered as part of
Construction work is due to be carried out by Huyton Asphalt to upgrade an arterial route in Liverpool. Improvement works along Prescot Road (A57) began on Monday, 18 February, and will run from Low Hill, near the Royal Liverpool Hospital, to Newton Road by Newsham Park. The first phase will
In high value industries like construction, there’s a growing emphasis being placed on energy-efficiency and the use of sustainable materials. Despite this and the fact that renewable energy sources are growing at an incredible rate, it’s estimated that fossil fuels will still account for a 77% market share by the
The world’s largest offshore wind farm off the coast of East Yorkshire has produced clean renewable energy for the first time. Once completed, Hornsea Project One will be almost double the size of the world’s current largest offshore farm. All of the 174 turbine blades for the wind farm are being
After secuting a place on the Crown Commercial Services (CCS) Framework for Defence services, Amey is set to bid for the next round of UK Defence contracts. The firm is one of one of six shortlisted FM providers who will compete for the Future Infrastructure Defence Services (FDIS). The lots Amey has been shortlisted for are: • Two housing contracts which will include provision of the full range of occupancy management services including allocation and occupation of MOD housing in the UK and Northern Ireland along with housing maintenance services. • The Defence Facilities Management contract which will provide hard facilities management services to ensure a fit-for-purpose MOD Estate and includes barracks, airfields and other defence facilities in the UK and Northern Ireland. “Securing a place on the CCS Framework has provided us with a great opportunity to build on our existing relationships in the Defence sector. Amey is pleased to focus on the defence sector and our efforts to improve the service we provide to the UK’s Armed Forces and their families. We will now draw on our experience to deliver the key elements of the required framework scope and support our business strategy of becoming the MOD’s most trusted partner,” said Amey’s Chief Executive, Andy Milner. The company will now compete in a series of ‘call-off’ contract competitions with each ‘call-off’ contract being seven years in length with options to extend up to a further three years, subject to satisfactory performance and other considerations.
Energy management specialist TEAM has strengthened its software portfolio with the launch of its next generation Sigma Tenant Billing solution. The application enables organisations to accurately and efficiently apportion utility costs between tenants, cost centres or departments delivering transparent accountable billing. The flexible and reliable solution seamlessly integrates with existing energy management systems, delivering effective measurement and sophisticated bill calculation. Users have the added advantage of integrating the data into their accounting system through the Accounts Link interface, speeding-up the billing process. To ensure the software suits the specific needs of its users to deliver on their efficiency targets and economise the tenant billing process, TEAM worked in partnership with its customers on the design and functionality. Tom Anderton, Product and Service Development Manager, TEAM said: ”Tenant billing is the natural next step on the journey to ensuring we can meet the evolving needs of organisations across a wide range of industries. By working closely with our customers, we understand the unique challenges that can come with tenant billing. “This collaboration has led to the inclusion of enhanced functionality to address these issues, such as flexible charging methodologies, allowing users to define their own utility tariffs and use data from a variety of sources. As well as the ability to charge against multiple commodities and calorific value conversion, which ensures greater transparency when billing volumetric consumption.” Developed as part of its flagship energy management software, Sigma, users can manage, monitor and gain insights into their tenant’s energy consumption through one system. By tackling two energy management needs in one, the application offers more functionality than proprietary systems. The approach aligns with the organisation’s first-class ethos, to deliver solutions and services that exceed in addressing the challenges of modern energy management. In adopting Sigma Tenant Billing, customers will receive a dedicated deployment designed to meet their specific requirements, along with continued on-going support. Simon Miles, Chief Executive Officer, TEAM added: “At a time when organisations are feeling the pressures of economic and political uncertainty, we want to help businesses in using technology to support sustainable and efficient operations. “With Sigma Tenant Billing, businesses will see operational benefits and cash savings from day one, and with the built-in option to scale-up as the business grows, customers can expect to achieve added return on their investment.” The launch of Sigma Tenant Billing marks another milestone achievement in TEAM’s product and service roadmap, demonstrating its commitment to delivering innovative and robust solutions that meet the evolving needs of the energy industry. If you have any questions relating to Sigma Tenant Billing please get in touch on 01908 889 866 or email us on enquiries@teamenergy.com.
Two water-related contracts, which will see upgrades completed on a North Lincolnshire pumping station and West Sussex pipeline, have been won by Galliford Try. The firm will upgrade Keadby pumping station near Scunthorpe for the Environment Agency under a £20.5 million contract. This project will be carried out in a joint venture with Black & Veatch. The station is located at the end of a complex network of rivers and pumping stations within the lowlying Isle of Axholme which spans around 200 square miles across South Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire. The pumps help transfer flood water from the Three Rivers into the River Trent during high tides. The station is nearly 80 years old and has reached the end of its working life. Work involves replacing the existing diesel driven pumps with six electric pumps, constructing electrical equipment buildings within the existing site and rebuilding the outfall headwall where the Three Rivers discharge to the Trent. Work starts this month and full completion is set for June 2021. The other project, worth £14.5 million, involves the laying of a 10km pipeline in Chichester, West Sussex, for Southern Water. The new waste water transfer main with three new pumping stations will run from the west of the city to the Tangmere treatment works in the east. The new infrastructure is necessary to connect three major housing developments of 3,800 homes in the catchment to the sewer network while complying with Environment Agency consents to limit storm discharges from the existing Chichester treatment works into the harbour. Both contracts will be undertaken by the Environment business unit of Galliford Try’s Infrastructure division.
UK Power Network has invested £600 million to boost London’s electricity network. The company’s major works have enabled the redevelopment of the Greenwich Peninsula, Nine Elms, Kidbrooke and White City, plus flagship projects such as Crossrail, the Thames Tideway tunnel and HS2. This annual investment is part of the company’s commitment to invest £1.6 billion in London from 2015 to 2023. Since the beginning of its investment, UK Power Networks has developed a number of new electricity sub stations. “We work with developers, land owners and local authorities to ensure they have the power they need to progress their plans, which ultimately delivers economic growth for all,” said Director of Connections Mark Adolphus. “In the first six months of 2018 we commissioned five main substations to boost the capacity of the London network – that’s the most investment we’ve seen since the 1960s. That includes three main electricity substations within three kilometres of each other; Black Wall Way and Greenwich are catering for infrastructure developments. The third is Crossrail Limmo which is fully funded by our customer. This new infrastructure is the result of a lot of hard work from employees across our business and it represents a huge growth in our network capacity,” Mark added. The total power capacity being installed in London is around 540 MW- which is equivalent to powering 270,000 new homes. New substations providing extra power capacity and built since 2017 include Greenwich Peninsula, Camden and Whitechapel. Other projects under construction to power further development in areas of London and facilitate more infrastructure projects, include new substations at Nine Elms, White City, Willesden and Silvertown. UK Power Networks adds tens of thousands of new connections to its networks every year, runs 30,000 kilometres of high voltage cables under the streets of London, and is developing a smart grid to support changing energy needs.
Energy Assets Utilities (EAU), one of Britain’s leading utility network construction specialists, has appointed David Burbidge as Managing Director for England and Wales to drive growth in residential markets and to build on its success in commercial energy schemes. David brings 30 years’ energy, utilities and asset management expertise to his new role, having served in senior management positions with Power On Connections, Eon and Babcock International. “I am very excited to be joining EAU at a time of significant opportunity for the business,” said David. “We are expanding our utility network construction capabilities to include fibre-to-the-home to satisfy growing demand among housebuilders for a one-stop solution to all their utility needs. “At the same time, we continue to invest in our success in commercial Short Term Operating Reserve (STOR) schemes, while actively exploring emerging opportunities in the distributed generation market.” David will be responsible for EAU operations based at Northampton and Birstall (West Yorkshire). His focus is on developing an agile connections business that sets the standard for network construction, meets all customer utility requirements through a unified service offering, and creates asset ownership opportunities for the Energy Assets Group. He will also play a key role in driving EAU’s strategy to expand the reach of the company’s products and services across Britain. Says David: “I am delighted to be part of a team with a clear vision for the future, working alongside like-minded people who share the same ambition, values and principles.” On 1st February 2019, EAU announced that all of its utility network design and construction operations, including Future Energy Group and Dragon Infrastructure Solutions, were being rebranded as Energy Assets Utilities. The company employs 300 people and also has operational centres in Livingston and Alva in Scotland. www.energyassets.co.uk
An Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) reveals how energy efficient a property is. If you are a former or current renter, you may have already seen one. They’re often provided by letting agents to assess the potential cost of energy bills — but, they can help any UK resident to carefully budget. Here, we explore their significance in more detail. Who produces an EPC? EPCs are issued by qualified assessors. Before a certificate is produced, they inspect your home, calculate the amount of energy used per m², and observe its carbon dioxide emissions (per year). This is primarily based on the energy that you use for lighting, hot water and heating. Afterwards, they match your home’s efficiency to the EPC colour-coded scale. Your property is then graded with an energy efficiency level between A and G. A represents the lowest range of running costs (92/100 and above), while G is used for the highest (1-20/100). Your EPC is valid for 10 years. With it, you can learn how green your living space is. What are its benefits? You can use your EPC to improve the energy efficiency of your home. In the UK, this record typically displays two ratings columns. One presents the current grade of your home; the other suggests an attainable higher figure. Almost always, the latter presents how much you could possibly save in energy costs. This can benefit you as an individual and wider society. From an environmental perspective, it could motivate people to become more conscious of their energy consumption. It may also enable people to reduce their bills. In addition, with a high EPC rating, Britons stand to heighten the value of their property. So, its rewards can be enjoyed by all. How Can I Improve My Rating? If your EPC rating isn’t as high as you would like it to be, don’t worry. There are easy ways to improve it. And they can improve the comfort and value of your property, too. Thermal insulation is usually the best place to start. Double glazed windows, for example, could raise your home’s heat retention rate. Loft and wall insulation can help with this, too. With these modifications, you may be able to lower your energy use. This can increase your EPC rating and limit your monthly outgoings. Additionally, through regular boiler checks, you can make sure that your living area is as energy-efficient as possible. With simple steps, you can strengthen the green value of where you live. An EPC can be a valuable tool — one that can enable us to save both money and the planet. Now that you know how, you could very well maximise your home’s energy efficiency. This is an exciting time for smart power consumption.
The £80 million National Grid contract that will help restore views of the Dorset landscape has been offered to Morgan Sindall. The 400kV electricity cable project has been awarded as part of the four year Engineer, Procure and Construct (EPC) framework. This is the first scheme delivered as part of National Grid’s Visual Impact Provision (VIP) programme, which aims to reduce the visual impact of existing electricity transmission infrastructure in some of the most precious landscapes throughout England and Wales. “We are delighted to have been awarded the first of National Grid’s VIP projects. This award further strengthens our high voltage underground electricity cabling capability which has grown significantly over the past few years. We look forward to further enhancing our long term relationship with National Grid and delivering this complex and important scheme,” said Simon Smith, Morgan Sindall Infrastructure managing director. A new 8 kilometre 400kV double circuit underground cable system will be designed, built, tested and commissioned as part of the £80 million construction contract, which also includes other associated works in the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). In addition, the project will involve the removal of the existing overhead line and 22 pylons that form part of the existing landscape in the AONB. Construction work is expected to begin in early 2019. “This contract marks a major step forward in a unique opportunity to restore views from the Hardy Monument across Dorset AONB,” added Michelle Clark, senior manager VIP projects, from National Grid. “The project has been driven by local and national organisations dedicated to conserving the landscape and countryside throughout England and Wales. We welcome Morgan Sindall Infrastructure on board and are looking forward to working with them as our delivery partner to turn the plans into a reality.”
Construction work is due to be carried out by Huyton Asphalt to upgrade an arterial route in Liverpool. Improvement works along Prescot Road (A57) began on Monday, 18 February, and will run from Low Hill, near the Royal Liverpool Hospital, to Newton Road by Newsham Park. The first phase will start between Shiel Road and Laurel Road. Running until Autumn, the £3.5 million scheme will include the replacement of the existing road surface, which has deteriorated over the years, and the upgrade of the highway drainage, pedestrian facilities, footways and traffic signals. The work forms part of Liverpool City Council’s £500 million highway investment programme – Better Roads – in conjunction with the council’s commitment “to deliver a strong and growing city” and provide a “connected and accessible city with quality infrastructure”, as set out in the Inclusive Growth Plan. Diversion routes will be in place and road users are advise that delays will be likely and to explore alternative journeys for those travelling to and from the Islington, Fairfield and Kensington and Old Swan areas. The A57 programme has received £2.7 million from the Local Growth Fund (LGF). LGF funding is awarded to the Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and invested through the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority through its Strategic Investment Fund.
In high value industries like construction, there’s a growing emphasis being placed on energy-efficiency and the use of sustainable materials. Despite this and the fact that renewable energy sources are growing at an incredible rate, it’s estimated that fossil fuels will still account for a 77% market share by the year 2050. Much of this has to do with the numerous challenges surrounding renewables, particularly in terms of widespread adoption and considerable fluctuations in terms of energy sources. We’ll address these challenges in the article below, while asking how these may be resolved in the years to come. The Implementation of Effective Energy Storage In the case of traditional fossil fuel plants, these outlets operate at a pre-mitigated level and produce a consistently reliable source of energy. The same cannot be said for renewables, however, which represent a much more unreliable source that can be impacted by a diverse array of different factors. The energy output from a solar farm can be suddenly reduced by heavy clouds, for example, while wind farms are also impacted by speed and variable forecasts. To counter this, researchers and developers are investing heavily in energy storage systems for renewables, while also innovating as a way of optimising capacity for renewable sources like hydropower. In terms of the latter, firms like Weir have developed advanced flow controls that optimise capacity while also minimising waste, without compromising on the reliability of the power source. 2. The Combination of Distributed Systems On a similar note, control software is also an obvious solution to better monitor and manage the output of renewable power sources. However, we must recognise that the vast majority of renewable energy generation sites are distributed across a diverse geographical area, making it extremely difficult to regulate and oversee outputs with the existing range of software options. In order to manage large, global offshore wind farms (and indeed similar power sources), companies must leverage intricate data sets from each location and combine these into a single report. Further innovation is planned in this space, in a bid to develop software that can manage this complex process across various items of distributed equipment. We’ll have to watch this space for now, but we’re sure to see some advancement sooner rather than later. 3. Tracking and Reporting on Renewable Energy Sources The next stage in the process is accurately tracking renewable energy output and reporting on this. However, this crucial task is proving extremely difficult at present. After all, while effectively controlling and monitoring renewable energy is crucial to future efficiency, it’s also imperative that companies are able to harness the data generated by their equipment if they’re to optimise the value that they offer. The software used to manage renewable energy sources should be able to visualise and capture huge swathes of real-time data, while being able to present this in a way that analysts can easily comprehend. This requires a focus on smart and intuitive software, with initial options like Zenon Analyser enabling firms to generate several different reports across an array of data sets. Ultimately, the goal must be to build on this innovation and improve the level of data capture over time, without compromising on visibility or ease of use.
The world’s largest offshore wind farm off the coast of East Yorkshire has produced clean renewable energy for the first time. Once completed, Hornsea Project One will be almost double the size of the world’s current largest offshore farm. All of the 174 turbine blades for the wind farm are being manufactured by Siemens Gamesa at its facility in Hull’s Alexandra Dock. “The UK renewables sector is thriving. Last year we saw the world’s largest wind farm open off the coast of Cumbria, and today it’s joined by an even bigger one starting to produce power for the first time. British innovation is central to our modern Industrial Strategy and our upcoming sector deal will ensure UK offshore wind is a global leader as we transition to a greener, smarter energy future,” said Claire Perry, Energy & Clean Growth Minister. Located 120km off the East Yorkshire coast, Hornsea Project One will consist of 174 Siemens Gamesa turbines. The first turbine blade for the wind farm left Hull on February 5, and was installed just five days later. The wind farm is a joint venture between Ørsted, a global leader in offshore wind, and Global Infrastructure Partners. “Hornsea One is the first of a new generation of offshore power plants that now rival the capacity of traditional fossil fuel power stations. The ability to generate clean electricity offshore at this scale is a globally significant milestone, at a time when urgent action needs to be taken to tackle climate change,” said Matthew Wright, UK managing director at Ørsted. “Ten years ago, the thought of a project of this size was just a dream, but thanks to continued innovation, a determined effort from both the industry and supply chain to drive down costs, and the natural geographical benefits that surround us, the UK has positioned itself as a world-leader in offshore wind. Our company’s vision is a world that runs entirely on green energy, and this flagship project is a significant step on that journey, proving that large-scale renewable energy is not just an idea of the future, it’s here, right now,” Matthew added. So far, 172 out of 174 monopile foundations have been installed at the site, with turbine installation expected to continue until late summer 2019. The electricity generated by the turbines will pass via undersea cables through one of three massive offshore substations, before reaching shore at Horseshoe Point, Lincolnshire. The electricity is then transported via underground cables to the onshore substation in North Killingholme, where it connects to the UK National Grid.
